Love and Anger (song)

"Love and Anger"
Single by Kate Bush
from the album The Sensual World
B-side	"Ken" "The Confrontation" "One Last Look Around the House Before We Go..."
Released	26 February 1990 (1990-02-26)
Genre	Art rock Gaelic rock [1]
Length	4:41
Label	EMI
Songwriter(s)	Kate Bush
Producer(s)	Kate Bush
Kate Bush singles chronology
"This Woman's Work" (1989) "Love and Anger" (1990) "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)" (1991)
Music video
"Love and Anger" on YouTube

"Love and Anger" is a song written and performed by British singer Kate Bush. It was released as the third and final single from her sixth studio album, The Sensual World (1989), on 26 February 1990 in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. 38 on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it received airplay in 1989 and reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart that December—it was Bush's only chart-topper on any US chart until 2022. The song features Pink Floyd member David Gilmour on guitar. "Love and Anger" was Bush's first single on her new US label, Columbia Records.

B-sides

The B-sides on the single are "Ken", "One Last Look Around the House Before We Go" and "The Confrontation", the latter two of which are instrumentals and are only available on the CD release and 12-inch version of this single. All three songs were written for the episode GLC: The Carnage Continues... of the British TV program The Comic Strip ^[2] . "Ken" was the theme music for the episode's parody of a Hollywood action movie about British politician Ken Livingstone, whom Bush describes in the song as a "funky sex machine". ^[3]

Music video

The video for "Love and Anger" was directed by Bush. ^[4]

Track listings

7-inch and cassette single ^{[5] [6]}

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love and Anger"	4:37
2.	"Ken" (from The Comic Strip film "GLC")	3:48

12-inch and CD single ^{[7] [8]}

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love and Anger"	4:41
2.	"Ken" (from The Comic Strip film "GLC")	3:48
3.	"The Confrontation"	2:56
4.	"One Last Look Around the House Before We Go..."	1:00

US cassette single ^[9]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love and Anger"
2.	"Walk Straight Down the Middle"

Canadian cassette single ^[10]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love and Anger"
2.	"Be Kind to My Mistakes"

Personnel

Personnel are lifted from The Sensual World album booklet. ^[11]

• Kate Bush – writing, lead and backing vocals, piano, keyboards, production
• Paddy Bush – backing vocals, valiha
• Dave Gilmour – guitar
• John Giblin – bass
• Stuart Elliott – drums
• Del Palmer – Fairlight percussion programming, recording
• Paul Gomersall – additional recording
• Kevin Killen – additional recording, mixing
• Haydn Bendall – additional recording

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1989–1990) Peak position Australia (ARIA) [12] 145 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) [13] 99 UK Singles (OCC) [14] 38 US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [15] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1990) Position US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard) [16] 9

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	26 February 1990	7-inch vinyl 12-inch vinyl CD cassette	EMI	[17]
Australia	21 May 1990	7-inch vinyl 12-inch vinyl cassette		[18]

See also

• List of Billboard number-one alternative singles of the 1980s

References

1. "Kate Bush: her 31 UK singles from worst to best". The Telegraph. London. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
2. admin (12 September 2017). "GLC: The Carnage Continues - Kate Bush Encyclopedia" . Retrieved 4 August 2025.
3. Kate Bush – Ken , retrieved 4 August 2025
4. "Video Track". Billboard . Vol. 101, no. 44. 4 November 1989. p. 67.
5. Love and Anger (UK 7-inch single vinyl disc). EMI Records. 1990. EM 134.
6. Love and Anger (UK cassette single sleeve). EMI Records. 1990. TCEM 134.
7. Love and Anger (UK 12-inch single vinyl disc). EMI Records. 1990. 12EM 134.
8. Love and Anger (UK CD single liner notes). EMI Records. 1990. CDEM 134, 20 3753 2.
9. Love and Anger (US cassette single sleeve). Columbia Records. 1989. 38T 73092.
10. Love and Anger (Canadian cassette single sleeve). Capitol Records. 1989. 4JM 73108.
11. The Sensual World (US CD album booklet). Columbia Records. 1989. CK 44164.
12. "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2014-06-17". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2015– via Imgur.
13. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 7, no. 11. 17 March 1990. p. V. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
14. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
15. "Kate Bush Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
16. "The Year in Music 1989: Hot Modern Rock Tracks". Billboard . Vol. 102, no. 51. 22 December 1990. p. YE-47.
17. "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week . 24 February 1990. p. 39. Retrieved 21 August 2021.Misprinted as 23 February on source.
18. "New Release Summary: Singles". The ARIA Report . No. 19. 20 May 1990. p. 19.